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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

One of my main goals this year is to try surfing in San Juan La Union. Preferebly before the end of summer. It's the closest I knew as an alternative to far far Siargao. In the first place, I haven't tried it before so I think a beginners course would be enough. I have always thought SanJuan is the closes surfing paradise there is, until April 17 that is, when I realized that there's a place near the Metro where one can learn surfing and even do it in a competitive level!!!

Yes, it's in Club Manila East Taytay Rizal and this was the venue of the successful 2nd ANNUAL SURFING COMPETITION for beginners dubbed the CME SURFING CUP 2011.

The CLUB MANILA EAST Surfing Cup 2011

Organized by Philippine Surfing Academy(PSA), the 2nd CME Surfing Cup was hosted by its president Paolo Soler who is a coach of surfing lessons himself. This year, there were 3 divisions for the competition, KIDS, LADIES and MEN'S. They battled to be the finest surfer in this side of the planet.

Together with some from the mainstream media like that of GMA-7 and INQ, I was one of the few bloggers who were invited to witness the event.

Mark Zambrano of GMA-7 interviewing Paolo Soler

The competition started at around 2pm with the kids division. The crowd was upbeat as they cheered for the small ones while they battle the waves. It was really exciting to see the kids being so good at it you wanna plunge in the water and try surfing yourself.. It pays to start early.

The Mens division and womens division competitions were equally exciting. The number of participants in this years Surfing Cup is proof of the enthusiasm of more and more Filipinos in surfing.

Many spectators watched the event. It was a Sunday afternoon so there were also many people who were in Club Manila East to enjoy the pool and the artificial waves, the CME SURFING CUP 2011 was an additional treat for them.

It was in 2009 when Club Manila East (CME) broke records with the launching of OceanWaves, the biggest wave pool in the country. On top of having a pool area of more than 10 basketball courts combined, OceanWaves has also made its mark being the first surfing pool in the country with the most powerful waves of up to 1.5meters high.

Club Manila East is the perfect venue for this as it's proximity in Metro Manila is definitely an advantage.

Aside from surfing, one can also experience the new and most exciting, high-flying attraction in CME, the CME FLY. A 320-m zipline that will take you across the whole resort.Stretching from the OceanWaves down to the Giant Slide, the 6-floor high, 360-meter long zipline promises to take its guests to an adrenaline level they’ve never imagined.

With the addition of CME FLY, the possibility of having more exciting in-house activities such as wall climbing and rappelling cannot be far behind.

way impressive. It's great to see Filipinos doing surfing. It make sense since we are surrounded by waters. I see people here going surfing all the time even in the cold, and I think, this would be so much better back home!

And we visited CME last year when we went home for a vacation... my little one enjoyed the waves. I might just encourage him to try it out when he's a bit older.